Flexible Access To Metamodels, Metadata, and Other Program Resources

ABSTRACT

A system and method for enabling a Meta Object Facility (MOF) and a Java Metadata Interface (JMI) compliant service to access program resources. A system includes a metamodel repository and an application server. The metamodel repository is configured to store the program resources including metadata and one or more metamodels. The application server includes at least one application providing a first portion of the program resources. A first portion of the program resources are stored in a database associated with the application server. A second portion of the program resources are provided in at least one application of the application server, and programming language instances of the program resources are received by one or more applications independent of where the program resources are stored or provided.

BACKGROUND

This document relates to access to metamodels, metadata and other program resources. More particularly, this document describes systems and methods for accessing these resources from applications as well as from a repository in a server.

Metadata, in particular the exchange of metadata and its programmatic access through application programming interfaces (APIs), plays a central role in almost any software product. Metadata defines the structure and meaning of data objects and is used by applications to define, relate and manipulate those objects. A metamodel describes the structure of the metadata. In order to make software products more interoperable, a general trend is to base the access, exchange, and structure of metadata on common standards, i.e. common access APIs, common interchange formats and common metamodels.

The Meta Object Facility (MOF) standard, promulgated by the Object Management Group (OMG) defines a language to describe metamodels and how to handle associated metadata. The Java Metadata Interface (JMI) standard, defined by the JCP process) brings the metamodel definition to the Java world. It describes a set of generic interfaces to access metamodels and metadata, as well as how Java interfaces should be generated according to a metamodel. Moreover, it defines the behavior of classes implementing theses interfaces. A Metamodel Repository (MMR) is an implementation of a MOF, and is a JMI-compliant repository handling metamodels, metadata and other program resources.

When multiple applications access the same repository, an issue arises regarding the storage and deployment of metamodels, metadata and other program resources, especially in a shared-resource environment. The required resources may be contained in some applications, but other metadata resources may be deployed separately, within the repository, the server or even in other applications.

SUMMARY

This document discloses systems and methods for implementing a metamodel repository, which provides access to metamodels, metadata and other program resources required by applications in a server environment, independent of the deployment and storage of those resources. This document also discloses a mechanism for accessing such resources delivered by the applications but which are not stored in the repository.

In one embodiment, a system for enabling a Meta Object Facility (MOF) and a Java Metadata Interface (JMI) compliant service to access program resources includes a metamodel repository and an application server. The metamodel repository is configured to store the program resources including metadata and one or more metamodels. The application server includes at least one application providing a first portion of the program resources.

In another embodiment, a method of accessing program resources in a Meta Object Facility (MOF) using a Java Metadata Interface (JMI) compliant service includes a step of storing a first portion of the program resources in a database associated with an application server. In the embodiment, the method further includes the steps of providing a second portion of the program resources in at least one application of the application server, and receiving programming language instances of the program resources by one or more applications independent of where the program resources are stored or provided.

The details of one or more embodiments are set forth in the accompanying drawings and the description below. Other features, objects, and advantages will be apparent from the description and drawings, and from the claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

These and other aspects will now be described in detail with reference to the following drawings.

FIG. 1 is block diagram of a system for implementing flexible access to metamodels, metadata and other program resources in a repository.

FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram illustrating access to metamodels, metadata and other program resources hosted by the application.

FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram illustrating access in to metamodels, metadata and other program resources hosted by the application and the repository.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a generic application with a generic access to metamodels and metadata.

Like reference symbols in the various drawings indicate like elements.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In an enterprise application environment compliant with Meta Object Facility (MOF) and Java Metadata Interface (JMI) a service is provided for accessing metamodels and associated metadata. The service includes a repository storing one or more metamodels, metadata and other program resources such as Java class files. The repository is accessible by applications in the enterprise application environment. The repository also provides access to the same resources during the instantiation of requested metadata. Those resources, however, may not be deployed with and stored in the repository but may be part of an application. Thus, a design pattern for accessing those resources is also disclosed.

FIG. 1 shows a system 100 having a metamodel repository (MMR) 101 including a resource loader 102, a deployment service 103, and a persistence layer 104. The persistence layer 104 provides access to a database 114, which is connected to an application server 105. The application server 105 hosts the MMR 101 and applications “Application 1,” “Application 2” and “Application 3,” designated hereafter primarily as applications 106, 107 and 108. Any number of applications may be hosted in the application server 105. The MMR 101 and the applications 106, 107 and 108 are separate units within the application server 105, i.e. they may run in separate threads and need not share the same path to resources, e.g. the same class path in the J2EE environment.

Metamodels, metadata and other program resources are encapsulated into libraries, which are stored in different places. In the MMR 101, the metamodels and metadata are stored in Java libraries (JAR archives). Java classes generated by the MMR 101 according to the JMI standard and its respective metamodel are stored in separate Java libraries.

The application server 105 includes various processes to provide metamodel, metadata and program resource libraries. For example, the metamodel and metadata library “library M1” and its corresponding class library “library C1” are part of application 106. These libraries are deployed with their respective applications and not stored in the MMR 101. Instead, the application server 105 controls access to these libraries. While the application (106) has direct access to these libraries as provided by the application server 105, the MMR 101 may run in a different thread or memory space without direct access.

The application 107 contains the metamodel and metadata library “library M2” and its corresponding class library “library C2”. It also accesses the libraries M3, C3, M4 and M4. The metamodel and metadata libraries M3 and C3 are part of the MMR 101, and access is controlled by the application server 105. Libraries M4 and C4 (111) however are stored in the database 114 and access is controlled by the MMR 101 using the resource loader 102 and the persistence layer 104, both of which are deployed in the application server 105. The MMR's deployment service 103 receives these libraries and stores them in the database 114. Libraries M5 and C5 are provided by the application server 105. Finally, library M6 (112) is also deployed in the MMR 101 using the deployment service 103 and stored in the database 114. However, no corresponding class library C6, which includes JMI-compatible generated interfaces and classes of the metamodel in C6, is available. The MMR 101 uses generic implementations to make the read metadata available to programs.

Applications have direct access to their respective program resources. In the Java context, an application's class loader provided by the application server 105 is used to read class data of the application. Hence, “Application 1” 106 has direct access to the classes in “Library C1”. The repository however, which runs in a separated thread or memory space, does not have access to that library using its class loader. The “Application 1” 106 requires the MMR 101 to access the metamodels and metadata in it's “Library M1”. This is explained further below.

FIG. 2 shows the relevant subset of FIG. 1 for an application “Application 1” 203, which includes metamodels and metadata in library “Library M1” and other program resources in “Library C1”. The application 203 calls (205) the repository 201 to receive some metadata of its metamodel. The repository 201 uses its resource loader 202 to read the metadata in “Library M1”. The repository 201 instantiates the corresponding program resources (classes in the Java context). During this instantiation, the resource loader 202 accesses the data in “Library C1” (206). In the Java context this is done by calling the thread class loader of the application server 204, which has access to the libraries of application 203.

FIG. 3 shows the relevant subset of FIG. 1 in case of an application “Application 2” 307, which has the libraries “Library M2” and “Library C2” in the same way as described in the last section and shown in FIG. 2, but also needs access to libraries 309 and 310 in the repository 301. Libraries 309 are part of the repository 301 and controlled by the server. Libraries 310 are controlled by the repository 301 and stored in a database 315. The application “Application 2” 307 calls (311) the repository 301 to receive some metadata. Then, the repository 301 searches (312) the libraries in the application “Application 2” 307, its own libraries 309 (313), and libraries in the database 315 (314). The instances are created using found metadata and program resources (class files).

FIG. 4 shows the relevant subset of FIG. 1 in the case of an application “Application 3” 406 which owns no libraries at all. It is a generic application, which accesses the metadata through generic interfaces as, for example, defined by the JMI standard. When the application “Application 3” 406 calls (407) the repository 401 to receive some metadata, the resource loader 402 of the repository 401 searches for libraries as described above. It finds a library “Library M6” 408 in its database, which contains metamodels and metadata. The repository 401 instantiates then generic implementations, which can be generic implementations of the JMI standard interfaces for example. The application 406 receives the metadata as instances of the generic implementations, and accesses the metadata through the generic interfaces.

Although a few embodiments have been described in detail above, other modifications are possible. Other embodiments may be within the scope of the following claims. 

1-10. (canceled)
 11. A method of accessing program resources in a Meta Object Facility (MOF) using a Java Metadata Interface (JMI) compliant service, the method comprising: storing a first portion of the program resources in a database associated with an application server; providing a second portion of the program resources in at least one application of the application server; and receiving programming language instances of the program resources by one or more applications independent of where the program resources are stored or provided.
 12. A method in accordance with claim 11, wherein the program resources stored in the database include metadata and one or more metamodels.
 13. A method in accordance with claim 11, wherein the program resources provided in the at least one application include metadata and one or more metamodels.
 14. A method in accordance with claim 11, wherein receiving programming language instances of the program resources further includes accessing the program resources from the database.
 15. A method in accordance with claim 11, wherein receiving programming language instances of the program resources further includes accessing the program resources from the at least one application.
 16. A method in accordance with claim 11, wherein receiving programming language instances of the program resources further includes accessing program resources provided by a metamodel repository connected between the database and at least one application.
 17. A method in accordance with claim 14, wherein accessing the program resources from the database further includes: providing a persistence layer in a metamodel repository accessible by the one or more applications; and accessing the program resources from the database via the persistence layer.
 18. A method in accordance with claim 11, further comprising: providing a persistence layer in a metamodel repository accessible by the one or more applications; and accessing the program resources from the database via the persistence layer. 